Always
by ladyhades
Summary: There were rules, agreements, and promises, but she doesn't care.


Notes: I didn't mean to do this. Really. I didn't.

ReixMichiru oneshot.

I don't own anything, but man, I _wish _I did.

* * *

_**Always **_

She hated the cold, sharp and biting, chewing through her gloves and numbing her fingertips. It stings her cheeks and sears her lungs if she breathes too deeply. She longs for a bit of warmth, just enough to take the edge off, and finds that such thoughts are dangerous as she pauses outside the window to a café she used to frequent, gaze softening a bit when she catches sight of a familiar figure slouched a bit at a corner table, alone.

She shouldn't.

She knows better.

But she needs to get out of the cold, if only for a moment.

Her hands move of their own accord, and even as she pulls the door open and the tiny silver bell chimes above her head to announce her arrival, her mind whispers treacherous things. She moves with an air of grace and calm she certainly doesn't feel, and a stab of guilt rushes through her even as her heart beats just a touch faster. As she steps into the shadows, in the corner of the café under dimmed lights while the world remains cold and grey, it feels like a dream.

She wishes it were.

Her hand reaches out, drawn to a dark flame, but the warm shoulder she touches never flinches.

"Michiru."

Her name sounds broken and lost on Rei's lips, and the intimacy on the dropped honorific is a subtle reminder that she should not be here. She swallows hard, and everything seems real once more as she slides into the seat across from the dark haired woman.

It's quiet for a moment that stretches on into eternity. The spoon gently rolling in the teacup before her stills, and her gaze drops, lost in tiny ripples across the surface for a fraction of a second. "We had rules." Rei murmurs at last, surprising even herself when she speaks first.

"I know."

Violet eyes flicker upwards and catch hers, and for just a second, Michiru can recall a vivid memory of fluttering lashes and gasping breath. She breaks the eye contact, and Rei's hand curls into a fist on the table between them.

"The rules…" Rei sighs. "You're breaking them."

"Not all of them." Michiru replied easily, unable to stop herself now.

Rei nodded slowly, raising her teacup once more and not daring to look up again. "How's Haruka?"

If she were affected, she didn't show it, choosing to focus on the fat snowflakes now falling just beyond the window. She propped her chin in one hand and fired back, just as subtly. "How's Minako?"

Rei hums a quiet sound of acknowledgement but doesn't answer, and Michiru knows that it's because she has never been good with feelings of guilt. She pulls off dark leather gloves, and her fingers tingle as blood finally warms. There were rules, agreements, and _promises_, but she doesn't care. She feels old, far too old for her age, and she thinks that maybe, perhaps she is. The young woman across from her looks at her, no straight _through_ her, and Michiru likens dark violet orbs to Setsuna's, ancient wisdom and years of pain buried behind a thick wall.

She isn't thinking, at least not clearly, and covers the clenched fist between them, digits curling and tugging until their fingers are knotted together.

Rei closes her eyes, and her tea is forgotten.

Minutes later, they're moving down the street, and Michiru doesn't feel the cold anymore, the hand still clenched in hers is nothing but warmth and soft skin. She doesn't feel the harsh wind, and as Rei unlocks the door and tugs her inside, she tries to push all thoughts of _wind _from her mind. She moves first, she always does, pulling the shorter girl to her as the door clicks behind them. Lips are soft and yielding beneath her own, and taste like twilight.

Time blurs, it always does, and they're sinking into the mattress that belongs to Rei and her blonde lover. Michiru thinks she should feel guilty, but it's hard to care about such things when she's so warm, far warmer than she has been in months. She doesn't dare stop to ask for permission, as it would break the dark spell they're both under, and her hands are already running over ivory skin, pushing under cotton, fingertips tickling up and over a flat abdomen.

When the smaller form beneath her arches into her touch, shaking and soft, Michiru feels a rush of adrenaline. She knows Rei is not one to be so submissive, but here, in this secret world they've built, she always is. As if reading her thoughts, and maybe she can, Rei weaves her fingers into Michiru's hair and pulls her closer, brushing quivering lips over the shell of her ear.

"Please." Rei whispers, pressing her thighs against the waist of the older woman hovering above her, breathless and nearly lightheaded.

Someplace, far away, as Michiru slides into her, drawing out gasps and whimpers, she thinks that maybe she would have fallen in love with this girl. She worries that here, as she sucks on Rei's pulse point and the muscles around her fingers tighten and tremble, she already has.

Rei draws the sheets up and around her figure, dark eyes lost in the world outside the window. The sun has long since gone down, and Michiru knows she should go. "You broke the rules." Rei murmurs, running her fingertips over her collarbone, now littered with marks.

There will be no lies that they can tell now.

"I'm sorry." Michiru replies softly, even though she knows she isn't. She slides her arms around Rei from behind and holds her close, burying her nose in dark locks and breathing in deeply.

"She'll be home soon." Rei sighs, even as her body betrays her and she presses back into the warm embrace.

Michiru can feel her heart skip a beat, and the words tumble out of her mouth before she can stop them. "Want me to stay?"

She already knows Rei won't answer that.


End file.
